Ask Tom: How did snowfall totals vary by area in 1967 blizzard?

How did snowfall totals vary across the Chicago area during Jan. 26-27, 1967? Big snow?

— Pete Gottstein, Chicago

— Greg Foltz, LaGrange

Dear Pete and Greg,

Chicago's benchmark snowstorm, the big snow of Jan. 26-27, 1967, delivered its heaviest snowfall across the central portions of the Chicago metro area with some of the heaviest totals from the western suburbs east into northwest Indiana. Officially, Midway logged the city's all-time snowstorm record 23.0 inches with 20.4 inches at O'Hare, 18 inches at Aurora and 23 inches at Park Forest. Snowfall was even heavier in northwest Indiana with 24.9 inches at Valparaiso and 26.5 inches at LaPorte. The snow tapered off dramatically to the north and west with only 3 to 4 inches in the Rockford area and 6 to 10 inches in far southeast Wisconsin from Lake Geneva to Kenosha. Farther to the south and west, snow totals dropped off to 13-14 inches at Kankakee and Ottawa.